What to do about tail gaters?

Someone tapped his brakes here in the Denver metro area over the weekend to send that message to his tailgater. The tailgater pulled up beside him on the right and shot and killed his passenger.

 

Hey genius, the very first thing in my post was "If you aren't passing..." Next time try actually reading instead of looking like an ignorant jerk.

 

I can only conclude you are the problem, as you're not traveling at the flow of traffic. Go the flow of traffic, regardless of the speed limit, and you won't have problems with tailgaters.

 

I don't think it's worth pushing my gas mileage to the point where I piss off the drivers behind me. If i'm not being followed, I max out my mileage, but in traffic I usually set cruise to match traffic, or choose pulse-and-glide speeds that are close together as to not start a road rage incident. I don't aim to creep over the crest of hills, although where I live there really aren't any.
I still only use only 4.4 l/100k, and I've never been flipped, honked or given the stink-eye. That's my approach and I'm satisfied.

 

I'm frankly amazed at the people who think it's better to drive dangerously fast rather than anger other drivers. If I am driving legally and safely and that p**sses someone else off, that is their problem, not mine. I have endured my share of tailgaters both before I drove a Prius and now and my absolute, unconditional position has been and remains, f*** them. Especially if I'm in the right lane and there is a passing lane, let them find a way around me. Period. I also won't be intimidated by the possibility that the other driver has a gun. Either we live in a civilized society or we don't; our collective behavior determines this.

 

Driving at the flow of traffic is not driving dangerously fast though. People who have problems with tailgaters tend to drive slower than the flow of traffic, regardless of the speed limit.

 

Agree with 32kcolors... driving with the flow of traffic or a bit faster seems to be by far the safest way to travel. A bit off topic, but also it's far easier to merge into traffic if you are fully at speed or a bit faster. Nothing worse than trying to merge into 60-70mph traffic while going up a ramp behind someone going 35mph.

 

And driving at, or slightly (5-10%) above, the speed limit is not driving dangerously slow. The posted speed limit is still the law, even if 95% of people are ignoring it.

Here in Washington there is a "yield to buses" law, meaning that if you're in a car behind a bus that is signaling to pull away from the curb to reenter traffic, you are legally required to yield and let the bus proceed ahead of you (unless, presumably, doing so requires you to slam on your brakes). Most drivers tend to ignore this law, basically indicating that they believe they have more of a right to get where they are going than all the commuters using public transportation, regardless of what the law says. It's a big pet peeve of mine, as I ride the bus to work every day, to see these self-important drivers put their need to reach their destinations ahead of mine. It's the same as butting in line at the grocery store, as far as I am concerned.

I say, these laws matter. They have been passed for a reason. When people wantonly disregard laws because they cause them personal inconvenience, we take one small step closer toward anarchy.

One last point: I do have a problem with people who stay in the left (passing) lane (or right lane if you're in the UK, Japan, etc.) and drive at or below the speed limit. This is just as dangerous because they are forcing others to pass them on the right. That is why, again, drivers are supposed to keep toward the right unless they are passing. By law. The left-hand lane is supposed to be for passing only, even though again this is a law that is widely ignored.

 

i once had an incident where there was a bmw going rather slow in the fast lane... roughtly 60 or so when surrounding traffic was doing 70. as i approached him i flashed my lights once to ask him to move over. (several car lenghts between us) eventually i had to pass around him. i was pretty annoyed at this point because he never kept a constant speed.. kept doing brake checks and such.. which then i would laugh at him.

when i did get in front of him, he came right up to my bumper. i grabbed my water bottle and dumped it out my window, above the door frame.. he immediately backed off and didn't return.. i assume it was a fear that i would throw the bottle too...

i had another incident where i was following a mercedes. we were both going at a steady pace with decent distance between us. he left lane 1 for lane 2 to pass a car in lane 1. i did the same thing. he was magically irritated that i was able to keep up... i'm not sure what caused this... maybe all those fumes from his ICE were irritating him. he darted into lane 2 pulled back, honked at me... then started to follow me with his high beams and honking... now... it was daytime, and i have a spoiler... so i knew the high-beams were on.. but really didn't care. i gave him the water-bottle treatment too.

so... water works well. specially when it's out of a bottle that you have to dump.

point being... people simply get irritated. sometimes you can't prevent it. they are angry drivers. some you don't want to piss off... some tend to cool down once they realize their anger is making them have to wash their cars again... or was that my anger making them wash their cars.

btw... greater speed plus a 2 to 3 second space still equals a higher flow of traffic. (though that's off topic of sorts)

as for the OP... if i remember it wasn't safe for you to move over. i would suggest hazards, pulling towards the side, then slowing down a bit (only once there is passing room)

otherwise, there really wasn't much you can do. you can try water.. but if they have a beater, they won't really care.. simply get more irritated.

 

While driving no faster than the posted speed limit might be the law, it could still be dangerously slow if it's 15 mph or so below the flow of traffic. You have the choice of following the law to the T and put up with tailgaters or drive at the flow of traffic regardless of the speed limit and not run into the risk of getting tailgated. But if you do the former, don't come here complaining about tailgaters.

 

Again... if I'm in the right lane going the speed limit why can't drivers who prefer to go faster and risk a speeding ticket just pass me on my left? Why is this my problem? What difference does it make to anyone else on the road if I choose to comply with the law? Please provide some justification based in actual logic. Speeding is illegal. Tailgating is illegal. Seems to me your whole argument is upside-down.

A few years ago I left my bike outside a business, unlocked, for a few minutes while I ran in to take care of an errand. Some idiot tried to steal it. Fortunately I saw him through the window, ran out and grabbed the bike out of his hands before he could ride away. As he ran off he told me it was my fault for not locking up my bike... That logic is similar to what I'm seeing here.

 

No. If the headway (the time gap between two vehicles passing a stationary point) remains constant, flowrate remains constant regardless of speed. Flowrate is the inverse of headway.

 

No, you'd be fully justified, just that you'll risk getting tailgated, as you can't reason with them and they don't care which lane you're in.

One minor point though, you'd hardly risk a speeding ticket if you travel at the flow of traffic, even if it's 15 mph over the speed limit (common in the LA area).

I'm just saying if the OP refrains from babying his pedal like the stereotypical Prius driver (as indicated by his trying to stay in the green bar going uphill) and learns to drive like an experienced hypermiler who accelerates very briskly and drives at the flow of traffic, he'll minimizes his risk of getting tailgated.

 

OK. I can agree with most of what you say here. (And especially about drivers in SoCal... hope I never have to drive there again.) But the OP was 5 MPH over the speed limit so doesn't sound like he was babying his pedal and in any case was well within his rights as a motorist. Some people will tailgate no matter how fast you're driving, because they are A-holes plain and simple. You are correct that you can't reason with these people but that doesn't mean you have to give in to them either.

I'm just saying, enough is enough. We can either choose to be intimidated by aggressive behavior, which only enables and encourages it—or we can stand our ground and refuse to accept it. Tailgating, road rage, etc. is all just a form of bullying. If you were walking on a sidewalk with enough room to pass, and some jerk gets right up on your heels but refuses to just walk around you, would you put up with it? I wouldn't—I would tell the guy to back off or go around me. Only difference is that when we're in our cars we're protected by a little cocoon of glass and steel, which makes certain social behavior that is unacceptable in other situations... less unacceptable. I refuse to play along, mainly because it makes me and my family less safe, but also on the sheer principle that I have the right (some would say the responsibility) to comply with the law, and to not do so ever so slightly erodes what it means to live in a civilized society.

(My 17-year-old self would be shocked to read this; but I have grown older and wiser.)

 

Didn't the OP say they were driving up a hill? I drive up a steep hill on the way to work and the speed limit is 35mph which I cannot even get to until I am towards the top. Most cars struggle on it. Only when I had my stick shift Corolla could I get up there without issues. I hardly think the OP was impeding traffic. The truck on his tail probably had a stick and needs to freaking relax.

 

nevermind.. you're at fault. if traffic is going faster than you.. move to the right.

so.. there's an HOV lane (basically) to your left, and slow lanes to your right, but you're in the "fast" lane and angry that people are tailgating you? you're lucky someone doesn't throw something out their window at you.

the tailgaters tailgate you because you don't belong in the fast lane.

 

Tailgaters absolutely should have been able to pass you on the left and had no right to follow you so aggressively, let alone honking, flashing headlights, etc. That is just plain obnoxious. That said, if this problem continues you may be safer keeping in one of the two right lanes. I would advise second lane from the right to allow for other drivers to merge and exit. If tailgaters still do the same thing when you're in one of the two right lanes, you are absolutely within your rights to get their license plate numbers and call the police.

 

move to the right next time. you were in lane 2 of 5 when you should have been in lane 4 of 5.

even I get irritated when i see a slow prius cruising in the faster lanes. as traffic approaches you people tend to have to slam on their brakes because traffic is breaking around you from the rear. you're impeding traffic.. speeding or not... i also cut them off when i pass...

yes, you were going above speed limit... but not the flow of traffic.

when i lived in the san francisco bay area.. sometimes traffic would be doing 85 in those fast lanes. if a porsche or bmw came up on me doing 90, i would move over out of pure respect for the faster lanes. if not, i would expect to be rear ended.

speeders follow in packs.. and lanes tend to keep up with them. if the first guy has to slow down because of you.. the rest do.. and then eventually you have gridlock in that one little area because the slowing down process keeps getting more aggressive down the line. (i've sat by a freeway to watch this effect)